Using letter grades (A, B, C, D, and E) to classify student performance on an exam is an example of measurement on a(n) ____ scale of measurement.

Using letter grades (A, B, C, D, and E) to classify student performance on an exam is an example of measurement on a(n) ____ scale of measurement.

• A. Nominal
• B. Ordinal
• C. Interval
• D. Ratio

Answer: (B)

This uses an ordinal scale. Letter grades establish an order: a higher grade indicates better performance, but the spacing between grades isn’t guaranteed to be equal, and there isn’t a true zero point. So you can rank students, but you can’t meaningfully say the difference between adjacent grades is the same or make ratio comparisons. For contrast: a nominal scale has categories with no inherent order; an interval scale has equal intervals between values but no true zero; a ratio scale has both equal intervals and a meaningful zero.

This uses an ordinal scale. Letter grades establish an order: a higher grade indicates better performance, but the spacing between grades isn’t guaranteed to be equal, and there isn’t a true zero point. So you can rank students, but you can’t meaningfully say the difference between adjacent grades is the same or make ratio comparisons.

For contrast: a nominal scale has categories with no inherent order; an interval scale has equal intervals between values but no true zero; a ratio scale has both equal intervals and a meaningful zero.